Abstract No. 478 Assessing the Status of Mentorship Programs in Interventional Radiology Residency Training: Results of a 2018 Survey

To assess the status of mentorship programs in interventional radiology residency programs. A 12-question survey hosted on www.surveymonkey.com was distributed via email link to all 78 Program Directors (PDs) of US interventional radiology residency programs in August 2018. A reminder email to complete the survey was sent one week later. Analysis was performed utilizing the on-board analytic tools of the online survey platform. Of the 78 surveys distributed, 23 responses were collected (29.5%). Of those, 13/23 (56.5%) report currently having a formal mentorship program in place. Of those 13 programs, 11 have no direct departmental support for mentorship and 9 reported that the mentor is assigned by the PD. Of the 10 that do not have a mentorship program, 5 report that implementation of a program is underway. These programs report that the absence of a mentorship program is not for lack of resident or faculty interest but instead cite lack of dedicated time and financial support. When asked about departmental or institutional mentorship training, most report that some faculty participate, but 7/23 reported that no such training program exists. When asked about their own experience with mentorship, 22/23 PDs report currently serving as a mentor and 12/23 report being mentored during their training. While 8/23 PDs were unaware of the Mentor Match program through SIR, 6/23 were registered as mentors through it. Nearly all PDs reported interest in receiving mentoring resources from SIR with the most popular choices being a dedicated mentorship educational course at the SIR annual meeting and regular mentorship articles and practical tips in publications such as IR quarterly. While a majority of IR residency PDs responding to this study have a mentorship program in place or are implementing one this year, few institutions support this with dedicated orientation sessions, resources, or funding. Lack of time and financial support are obstacles to mentorship program development. Additional studies are needed to determine the best way to develop and support successful IR mentorship programs.